As the Children of Israel takes a census then each one of them counted is to give over a half-shekel for the Temple sacrifice. This is the Law. God tells it to Moses. God says this Law is so so there will not be a plague amongst [the Children of Israel] when [Moses] number[s] them.
And so the results of not giving over a half-shekel at the time of the census is death.
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This is not unlike God’s laying down of the Laws of how the priests must behave in the Temple. God says the priest must follow the Law and he will not die. These Laws begin shortly before the Laws of the census.
The Temple is Holy. To fail to recognize the holiness about you is fatal.
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To number a person is to sum him up. But a person is both holy and mundane. And so the act of summing a person up calls for the holy half to be recognized. The half-shekel seems to recognize that holy half.
To fail to recognize the holiness within you is fatal.
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